Supreme Court review of ACA Medicaid rules could have massive impact

The most unexpected aspect of the Supreme Court’s announcement that it would review the Affordable Care Act was its decision to also consider the law’s expansion of Medicaid (Source: “Supreme Court’s planned review of health-care law shocks Medicaid advocates,” Washington Post, Nov. 16, 2011).

Under the ACA, beginning in 2014, states will be required to cover all residents with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level, including childless adults who had previously not been eligible for Medicaid.

According to a recent study commissioned by the Ohio Department of Insurance, Ohio Medicaid enrollment is expected to increase from 2,075,000 in 2010 to 3,147,000 by 2017 because of the provisions in the ACA.

The 26 Republican state attorneys general and governors who filed the challenge to Medicaid expansion contend that these changes unconstitutionally force them to increase their spending on the program.